The state authorities should think and act in the sphere of satisfying the rehabilitation needs of servicemen already now, and the solutions can only be comprehensive, Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) Andriy Kononenko said in an exclusive interview with the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency.

"Today Ukraine has all the prerequisites to become the country with the largest number of veterans in the world after World War II. This figure may reach one million people. And these are not final figures. We need to think and act to satisfy the needs for rehabilitation now and the solutions can only be comprehensive," Kononenko noted.

He also said there is a decision of the NSDC dated May 14, 2021 on the Strategy of Human Development, where, in particular, the operational goal is defined – to provide war veterans and members of their families with services for professional adaptation and psychological rehabilitation of veterans.

"What does this mean in practice? First of all, updating the already existing rehabilitation system to take into account all the new circumstances of the war. And this entails changes in personnel policy, in infrastructure, after all, proper funding is needed. [...] In addition, global experience should be taken into account, in particular, policy measures taken in different countries to address the problems of veterans after wars or other military conflicts. This work is already underway and has been significantly accelerated after the outbreak of the full-scale war," the deputy secretary said.

Answering the question, what are now the most acute problems and obstacles in the issues of rehabilitation, as well as how to overcome them, Kononenko said, "No matter how unfortunate it is, but we have a problematic experience related to the organization of so-called rehabilitation routes for servicemen, including those who have a spinal cord injury. And this is just one example."

"What should be done? Today our specialists are actively working on the Israeli experience in the system of physical and psychological rehabilitation. Israelis have learned to work with the patient from the moment of injury. And when such a patient appears in a medical institution, they work with him comprehensively - rehabilitologist, prosthetist, if there is such a problem, surgeon, therapist," he said.

According to Kononenko, such an approach can be introduced in Ukraine by creating a system of rehabilitation departments on the basis of a network of medical institutions.

"This will allow each cluster and super-cluster hospital to have its own non-specialized inpatient rehabilitation department with a sufficient number of beds for patients with injuries and wounds requiring active recovery process," he concluded.